Absolute Power
by Amelia McDermid
Summary: A young man is found dead with a rift key in his pocket. Investigation points to an untouchable celebrity but with the PR being a familiar face and the reappearance of a certain rogue time agent. Can Torchwood solve the mystery? Jack/Ianto Please R&R. AU.
1. And so it begins

Ok this is my Fourth Torchwood story that I have ever written. It is in the same universe as my other two novel sized stories "Cardiff Blues" and "Forbidden Lies." This story takes place four months after Forbidden Lies but it's not that important to read the other two but you can read them if you want to learn more about my OC Peter Clarkson or want to understand more.

It's also very AU as Owen and Tosh are still alive and Owen isn't 'dead' because I started writing my Torchwood stories before I saw series two of Torchwood.

I'm Australian so I might get a few places wrong.

And so it begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood as it is owned by the BBC.**

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**Chapter One**

**And so it begins**

**Jack**

I looked over the edge of the building. The scenery below was familiar as memories of falling as a result of being pushed by John flowed through my mind. That was the past now as I looked down at a body lying outstretched on one of the benches.

"Is everything alright sir?" Ianto asked as he walked up beside me.

"It seems the past has come back to haunt me." I answered pointing down at the body. "That was me once, John pushed me off."

"Well the difference is you're still standing." Ianto pointed out with a small smile.

"Of course." I said with a smile.

Ianto smiled. "I'm glad you are sir."

I was going to ask him to cut out the 'sir' crap when I heard Gwen's voice in my ear. When we were first called out here I had gone straight to the roof with Ianto to look for clues while the others checked out the body. At first glance, the way that the body sat on the bench suggested that he was indeed pushed.

"Jack, Tosh has confirmed that he was pushed from gravitational readings. We also found an ID. Harry Sanders, twenty four from London." Gwen explained in my ear. "Owen still wants to autopsy him as he's not convinced it was the cause of death."

"Ok. There doesn't seem to be much up here in the way of clues, but hopefully the CCTV footage will tell us more." I replied turning to Ianto who was still looking down at the body. "We'll be down in a few minutes."

I pressed the device on my ear and went back to looking down at the body. It really was déjà vu for me by the way the body was lying on the bench with the head leaning against the headrest. I'd never thought that I would experience it again even if it was someone else. The soft feeling of fingers entwining into mine made me look up for a moment at a very red faced Ianto Jones.

"Sorry sir." He apologised and drew his hand back. "It's unprofessional and we better go back down to the others...." he added before I interrupted him with a kiss on the lips.

"Still up for dinner?" I asked when we drew apart.

"Of course sir." Ianto answered with a smile. "So are we going to.....?"

I nodded and took his hand in mine before making our way back down to the plaza below. Our hands were firmly apart though when we finally reached the ground floor of the building. Ianto and I had been back together for nearly four months now and things were going well. Everything had seemed to fall back into place after we had spent our first night back together on Christmas Eve last year. All the team needed now was the safe return of our latest recruit from his holiday in Adelaide and everything would be back to normal. Well Torchwood's definition of normal at least.

I took a closer look at the body but something didn't feel right. He certainly had been pushed off the building but it was becoming more likely that wasn't how he had met his death. Owen was right to want to autopsy to find out the real cause of death.

"Jack I found this in this pocket." Owen said holding up a very familiar device. "Think we found the motive?"

"Ok guys the investigation just got a little more interesting!" I announced to the others before handing the note back to Ianto. "Toshiko, when we get back to the hub can you start looking through the building's CCTV footage to work out a time frame. Owen, you can do the autopsy and Gwen, Ianto can you stick around to see if there were any witnesses."

Gwen and Ianto walked off in the opposite direction while Owen and Tosh and I walked back to the SUV.

"It's not everyday you find a corpse with a rift key in their pocket." Owen said as we climbed in.

* * *

**Meanwhile at the police station **

**Peter**

The station was quiet when I opened the door. There was various officers walking around but it seemed completely deserted. I'd only been back a day when I received the call from one of PCs that Gwen knew asking for help. He had called Gwen but she was busy with the team at another crime scene. He'd also been surprised that I was available but I explained the situation to him over the phone.

"Hey Peter. Glad you're here." Andy said looking up from the front desk. "The noise has been unbearable."

"Um it seems quiet to me." I replied with a confused smile.

"Well they've stopped for now but there has been a lot of noise coming from their cell." Andy explained grabbing the keys from a hook and walking towards the police cells.

"So what have we got?" I asked walking along beside him.

"Two men were picked up fighting in a bar near the centre of the city. One of them claims to know your friend Jack." Andy replied when we stopped in front of the cell.

"And the other?"

"Well you can see for yourself." He answered and unlocked the door of the cell.

I stepped inside and saw two men sitting on opposite sides of the room eyeing each other off. The man on the right wore an old red British army jacket and pants. He had light brown hair and smirked when he saw me. His 'friend' on the other hand had huge purple blister like pimples on his face, long blonde hair which came down to his shoulders and was wearing a grey business suit.

"Oh Jack certainly knows how to pick them." The first man purred with an English accent before standing up. "Captain John Hart and you are?"

"Peter Clarkson and you must be the one who claims to know Jack." I answered folding my arms.

"Oh and Aussie too, how exciting." He purred again and looked me over. "That's right Handsome, Jack and I go way back."

"Your friend." I said pointing at the other man and trying not to stare. "Does he know Jack too?"

"No and he isn't my friend. I don't go for the ugly ones." He answered with a grin. "He does know however who pushed that man off the edge of that building."

I gave him a puzzled look as even though I did know about the man who was found dead from being pushed off an office building but I couldn't figure out how he could possibly know especially since it had just hit the news in the half hour.

"How do you know about that?" I asked with a puzzled look.

"Well handsome, why do you think we had a fight in the bar?" He asked right back and got a bit closer. "Am I allowed to have a taste?"

"Men have fights for all sorts of reasons." I answered with a smirk before turning to leave.

"You haven't answered my question!" He called out to me, which made me stop and turn back around.

"Let's just say I'm already taken" I replied (which was a lie) and turned again to leave.

"Tell Jack that he is a lucky son of bitch." I heard him yell as I walked off to make a phone call. "And that he also needs a blonde."

**A/N: Please remember to review**


	2. Dead before questioning

Alright chapter two. enjoy.

The name of the chapter is more of a foreshadowing than what is in the chapter.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood as it is owned by the BBC**

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**Chapter Two**

**Dead before questioning**

**Jack**

I stood silent as Tosh played the security footage from outside of the building. So far all it showed was the victim entering the building and an hour later his body lying outstretched on the bench. The footage from inside didn't seem to help either as Tosh couldn't seem to find any footage of him clashing with anyone or even going off with someone. Owen was over in autopsy area and Gwen and Ianto hadn't arrived back yet.

"I'll keep looking shall I?" Tosh said still looking at the screen.

"Yes, keep looking as he's bound to show up." I answered before walking off towards the autopsy area. "Owen, found anything interesting?"

"I was wrong about the cause of death; he did die from being pushed from that building. The spine is completely crushed so he died upon impact." Owen answered looking up the corpse. "I got the idea because of the rift key."

"Actually I did as well but from having a closer look at the body." I confessed with a small smile. "Well keep me posted." I said before walking off.

"Will do." Owen called after me.

I walked up the stairs towards my office and sat down at my desk. Picking up the rift key I tried to figure out how the victim ended up with it in his pocket. Peter would know as I had given him the job of scowling the internet looking for alien artefacts and other weird objects. If he was here I would have asked him to look to see if any rift keys had been sold over the internet. Peter knew a lot about eBay and other interesting auction houses around the world that it was Ianto's idea to give him that part of his job. Ianto of course was still relied upon for his local knowledge.

My phone started to ring in my pocket and I answered it without looking at the name on the display. Before I said hello I heard an Aussie accent swearing, sounding very on edge and pissed off. I immediately knew who it was from hearing it so many times when he had called me in the past. I felt a smile pass over my lips.

"Peter Clarkson, your voice is like music to my ears." I answered sounding very cheesy. "Even if you are swearing."

"_Hi Jack, sorry I thought you weren't going to answer." _Peter replied. _"Because of the new case and all." _

"Not at all, I always have time to talk to you." I answered with a smile. "So you want me to pick you up from the airport?"

"_Um actually I've been back a day, didn't want to make a fuss." _Peter said. _"I'm calling you from the police station."_

"Please don't tell me that you got yourself into trouble?"

"_God no, I was called here because they arrested a man who claims to know you." _

"Who?" I asked sitting forward in my chair.

"_A man by the name of Captain John Hart. Wears an old red British army coat, speaks with a British accent and flirts worse than you." _Peter answered a sigh.

"Yes I know him, even the team." I told him. "Well except for you of course."

"_Yeah he commented that you need a blonde." _

I gave a light chuckle. "Why was he arrested?"

"_Had a fight with a man at a bar, well I really wouldn't say he was a man more like an alien with blister like pimples on his face." _

"So he was arrested too then?"

"_Of course, they've been eyeing each other off since they got here." _

"Well I think you can handle it, just tell who's ever in charge that you will be taking Captain John Hart back to Torchwood."

"_Here's the thing, Captain John Hart claims that his 'friend' knows who pushed that man off the building." _

"Really?" I asked a bit in shock but interested at the same time.

"_Yes, unless he's lying and I have to actually ask his 'friend'."_

"No don't do anything until I get there understand me?"

"_Yes whatever you say." _And the line went dead.

* * *

**Peter**

I placed the phone back into my pocket and walked back towards the cell. John was now sitting down on the ground with his legs outstretched. His eyes were upon me when I stopped in the just outside the door.

"So what did Jack say?" He asked with hunger in his eyes.

"That he knows you and I have to wait until he gets here." I replied learning on the column of the doorway.

"Ah interested then is he? Of what I have revealed?" John said with a glee before looking away. "Oh good, I know how to get his attention."

"How do you know him?" I asked looking him over with keen eyes.

"We used to work together." He replied looking back up at me. "We were partners in everyway."

"Yeah I sort of guessed that." I said with a small smile.

"You know by the look of you, you seem to be pining for someone." John mused, standing up and walking closer to me. "Especially since you did lie to me about being taken."

"So you think I used him as an excuse?" I replied before shutting my mouth with embarrassment.

"What's his name?" John asked quite seriously.

I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't want to bring up him because I had tried to put him in the back of my mind while I was away on holiday. It hadn't worked because I had thought about him everyday and wished that he was with me visiting the family. I wanted to show him around Adelaide again like I had two Christmases ago. The pain had started, causing me to cry thus making the insomnia worst. I hadn't been able to sleep in four months because of the guilt.

"I don't think that's any of your business." I said quite calmly with my head down.

"Put it this way, I'm still in love with your boss. If I can tell you that then surely..." John said coming right up to my face.

"Leave him alone." His 'friend' spoke up from the other side of the room. "I don't think he wants to tell you."

"Very well then." John said stepping back away from me and sitting back down on the ground. "What about you tell him who killed that man then."

I saw that he was trying to repress his anger by eyeing him off before turning his eyes towards me. I wanted to look away from the blister like pimples that sat on his face but my eyes were solidly glued. It was really a strange sight as I tried to figure out if he was human or alien. The long blonde hair and grey business suit was what threw me off when I had first saw him. I started to walk closer.

"So John here tells me that you know who killed that man." I said trying to engage him in conversation while walking closer. "I know someone who would like that information."

Before I knew it I was up against the wall with his hand against my neck. His body became incredibly close to mine and I thought I could feel something from his pants. I couldn't breathe though as he started to squeeze tighter. I closed my eyes.

"I wouldn't if I were you." A voice said from the other side of the room with a cock of a pistol.

"Why? He looks so tasty!" He purred before letting me go. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

"Torchwood!" The voice answered and I could hear him walk a little closer. I opened my eyes but kept them glued on my attacker.

"Ah yes Torchwood, John here can't stop talking about......" He began before falling to the ground with a loud thud. Everybody's eyes were now on me.

"You've got a feisty one there Jack!" John said walking up to Jack. "Where did you find him?"

"I'm asking the same question myself." Jack replied with a smile.

**A/N: Please remember to review as advice is always welcome. **


	3. Sweet Reunion

Ok chapter three, where you learn about new habits and an very disgusting cause of death.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood as it is owned by the BBC.

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**Chapter Three**

**Sweet Reunion **

**Peter**

My eyes were now on the body which lay on the ground. It had been a quick decision, not something that I usually did. Dirty blonde hair now covered most of his face with purple peaking through the small gaps. There was a small bulge in his pants that made me feel sick in the stomach. Jack's eyes were still on me when I looked up again. John's eyes though had moved to the direction of the bulge.

"Oh I haven't seen that for awhile." He remarked, grinning like a schoolboy.

"Shame it isn't for you." I replied moving away from the body. "He's all yours now though." I added leaving the cell.

Outside the police station I couldn't help but vomit on the sidewalk before pulling out a packet of cigarettes. While on holiday in Australia I had taken up smoking to keep my mind off the insomnia. I lit the cigarette and stood there for a few moments with my eyes closed, my head leaning back against the brick wall. Putting the cigarette to my lips I blew a few times watching the smoke rise up into the sky. After awhile the sick feeling in my stomach had started to fade.

"Since when have you been smoking?" Jack asked now standing next to me. I hadn't heard him walk up but he was like that sometimes if he wanted to be, silent and mysterious.

"Is there anything wrong with it?" I asked with a faint smile.

"No as it's your choice I guess." He answered putting an arm around my shoulders moving me in a bit closer and kissed my forehead. "But smoking after vomiting...."

I laughed and stubbed out the cigarette with my shoe. Taking up smoking wasn't a regret but it made a few members of my family a bit angry. The strange thing though was that they hadn't tried to stopped me but let me take up. I guess that they accepted that it was my choice to take up the nasty habit. I looked back at Jack who smiled before leaning in to kiss me softly on the lips.

"Please tell me that you are over me." He said and moved back with a smile.

"I'm over you Jack, have been for four months." I replied with a small smile. It was the truth as my feelings for him were gone replaced by the painful feelings for someone else.

Jack nodded and kissed me again, fully on the mouth. It felt more meaningless though like he was doing it for the enjoyment. We were soon interrupted by the sounds of footsteps running down the steps of the police station. I looked over to see John walk over to where we stood. His clothes were covered in a yellow goo like substance. Jack burst out laughing making me jump in surprise.

"It's not funny Jack!" John scolded getting quite angry.

"Yes it is quite funny!" Jack replied with a grin. "It's not the first time that's happened though."

"What happened?" I asked looking John over with curiosity showing in my blue eyes. "Where's your 'friend'?"

"He's dead, died from being too sexually aroused." John answered trying not to touch the goo with his hands.

"Damn, now we won't know who killed that man." I remarked before I realised what else he had said. "So the yellow goo is....?"

"Yep and as I said it's not the first time it's happened!" Jack replied with a smile and taking out his mobile phone. "Still it's funny!"

"It's not Jack, especially since it's not where I want it to be." John explained and saw the packet of cigarettes in my hand but said nothing.

"Stop complaining." Jack told him before he was interrupted. "Ianto, can you and Gwen make your way to the police station, we have a little situation."

* * *

Twenty minutes later I was the only one outside as Jack and John had gone back inside to inspect the body. A cigarette in my hand, my third for the evening and my head leaning against the brick wall with my eyes closed. Jack had told me to wait outside for Gwen and Ianto to arrive. Putting the cigarette to my lips again I couldn't help but look around my surroundings. There weren't many people around on this fine Saturday night which wasn't a surprise because people were either drinking in pubs or dancing in nightclubs all around Cardiff.

"Peter, is that you?" A feminine welsh accent asked from the bottom of the stairs leading into the station. I looked up to see Gwen and Ianto standing there. I stubbed out my cigarette and made my way over to them.

"Hey, Jack asked me to wait out here for you." I replied with a grin. "He's in there with Captain John Hart." I added.

"What's he doing here?" Gwen asked with a stern look on her face.

"He was arrested fighting in a bar with a man who is now dead." I explained and put the packet of cigarettes into my pocket. "The man in question knew who pushed the man off the building."

"How did he die?" Ianto asked from behind Gwen.

"You might want to ask John that question." I replied with a small smile. "I will warn you though that the cause of death is pretty disgusting."

Ianto nodded and walked up the stairs while Gwen stayed behind. She wrapped her arms around me with a smile.

"Welcome back, how was your holiday?" She asked kissing me on the cheek.

"Yeah really good but to be honest I was a little homesick." I replied with a smile and kissing her right back on the cheek. "Cardiff is my home now; Australia's just where my family lives." I added resisting the urge to reach for the cigarettes.

"Anything interesting happen while on holiday?" She asked eyeing my hand reaching for my pocket.

"My mum got engaged to an old family friend." I replied with a small smile. "The wedding in September."

"Wow that must be good news." She said with a grin.

"Well good and bad." I explained with a sort of frown. "The good news is that my mum's happy for the first time in ages, bad news is that I haven't been able to get along with him."

"That can happen especially if you had a good relationship with your father." Gwen assured me putting a hand on my shoulder. "Ok seriously what was the real cause of death?"

I smiled and tried not think about it in fear of more vomit but I answered her question.

"Um he died from an erection." I answered quite seriously to assure her that it wasn't a joke. "Don't ask me how though."

She stood there a bit stunned at what I had just told her. I had thought it was strange as well when I realised what John's clothes were covered with. A few minutes later I saw Jack and Ianto carrying a body down the stairs of the station with John walking behind.

"Gwen do you want a ride back?" I asked looking back at Gwen.

"Good idea, especially since they won't have enough room." Gwen replied with a smile.

"I'm taking Gwen back if that's alright?" I told Jack when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Of course, could you take back John as well?" Jack asked when they stopped.

I looked at John who gave a seductive smile. "Alright as long as he is quiet."

Jack laughed. "Ok also after you dropped them off you go straight home alright?"

"Why? I'm part of the team aren't I?"

"Yes but I want you to look up on the EBay to see if there has been any rift keys have been sold in the last month or so." Jack answered. "You might want to be alone to do that."

I nodded. "Was the victim found with a rift key?"

Jack nodded before carefully carrying the body to the SUV with Ianto.

I turned to Gwen and John.

"This has been one interesting night." I remarked.

**A/N: Please remember to review**


	4. C’est la vie

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Sorry that it took so long but I have been at Tafe plus I had writer's block but I'm fine now as I have been writing stories for a LJ community. In this Chapter it is written from Ianto and Peter view. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: Torchwood is owned by the BBC or Aunty Beeb as many British people call it. **

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**Chapter Four**

**C'est la vie**

**Ianto**

I looked out the window of the SUV. The world outside was dark except for the glimmering of the traffic lights. Smells of cigarette smoke coming from the driver side covered up the rotting flesh smell coming from the back seat. For some reason the body was decomposing quicker than a human's so Jack was driving a bit faster than he usually did. The cigarette smoke that clung to him seemed out of place but somehow I knew the source.

"Sir, I noticed that Peter's taken up smoking." I said making conversation.

"Oh you can smell that can't you?" He asked already knowing the connection. I nodded before looking back out the window. "I should really stay away when he is."

"It's really not that bad sir." I replied, smiling to myself.

Jack gave a sigh before he came to a sudden stop at the intersection near the Millennium Centre. He turned to me and gave me a smile but it was more like a worried smile that he gave when something was up with one of the team members. I didn't have to ask that he was worried about Peter as I had already made that assumption. In the past I had seen that Jack had really cared about him.

"The smoking is very uncharacteristic of him." Jack said in a worried tone that I had heard several times in the past.

"As you said yourself, there are a lot of things that we don't know about him." I replied in an assuring tone. "Something probably happened in Australia."

"Maybe, still it's good to know that he is over me." He remarked before turning the corner towards the entrance of the hub.

I suddenly felt a bit of jealousy overwhelm me as I realised that they had shared at moment before we had arrived. Knowing Jack, he would have kissed Peter after he had told him that he was over him. Even if it was meaningless I just couldn't help feel a bit jealous about the whole thing.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise." Jack said, seductively when he saw my hurtful look.

"You better." I answered with a smile. "I would have you right now if it wasn't for the smell." I added pointing to the body lying on the back seat.

Jack laughed and pulled up in front of the entrance of the hub. We climbed out and picked up the body from the back seat carefully carrying it through the corridor towards the hub. When the door opened we were met by Owen, who didn't look happy. Jack had called ahead to tell Owen that a very fast decomposing body was coming back to Torchwood. He had a trolley with him which we quickly laid the body down on before wheeling it away towards the autopsy area.

* * *

"Why are you still here?" Owen asked about thirty minutes later. I was standing at the entrance of the autopsy area with my arms resting on the railing. There wasn't much to do around the hub so I had decided to watch Owen do the autopsy. Truthfully I wanted to stay away from Captain John Hart.

"Um trying to stay away from Captain John Hart." I answered with a small smile. "Also I'm interested as to why he is quickly decomposing."

"Of course, especially since he is the ex." Owen said with an understanding sigh. "Well the least you can do is make me a coffee."

"Can't coffee machine is dangerously close to Jack's office." I explained with a disappointed sigh.

"Geez Ianto, you really need to learn not to act so jealous." Owen said looking up at me. "Oh hi sweetheart, glad you can join us."

I looked beside to see Gwen standing next to me with her hands in her pockets. Her eyes were more on Owen but she quickly turned to give me a small smile.

"I forgot to tell you Owen, Peter's back from his holiday." Gwen said quite happily. "He was the one who went to the police station."

"He's also taken up smoking." I added which made Owen look straight back up.

"What our quiet, do-gooder Aussie?" Owen asked, but the sound of his tone he seemed a bit shocked. "So that's who dropped you off!"

"If you can remember he did cheat on Jack with his ex-boyfriend." I pointed out which made both of them silent. "Not that I care though."

"I'm sure Peter had a reason." Gwen answered breaking the silence. "Jack didn't seem to be too fussed about it."

"But that's Jack being Jack isn't it." Owen replied, eyes now back on what was left of the corpse. "Now if you excuse me I've got an autopsy to finish."

"Peter was starting to look quite lonely though, even though they seemed quite close." I explained to Gwen with a small sigh. "Like he really was somewhere else."

Gwen nodded and left me to be alone watching Owen try to cut the remains of the corpse. I eyed the business suit that lay on a small table beside him. It sort of gave me the feeling of uneasiness because of the suits that I wore but for some reason my thoughts soon turned to Peter and how he was coping.

* * *

**Peter**

Jack had been wrong about rift keys being sold on EBay as none had been sold in the past five years or so. Even the other auction websites I usually went to came up empty. I sat back and sighed. I didn't know where else to look and it didn't help with the craving inside my head for a cigarette. Thoughts of Jack crept on to my head as I knew that I probably left the stench of cigarette smoke on his coat. Ianto might have noticed and it would have ended up with Jack telling him that he was worried or even that I was over him. Probably even both.

Ianto had been a good friend to me during those months while I was away. He had emailed me, giving me up to date gossip from the hub. Jack didn't have a clue that he had done this as Ianto wanted to keep it secret. I didn't know why but I never asked. In return I had told him everything that had ever happened in Australia. So really he knew why I had taken up smoking and why I couldn't get along with my soon to be stepfather. Sleeping with my soon to be stepbrother might had something to do with it.

Suddenly I heard the familiar popping sound of my Torchwood email client program pop up. I had to clients installed on my computer for work and personal email. I even had two IM accounts. Opening up the client I noticed that it was from UNIT, which wasn't odd as they were always trying to find out stuff from us. I was curious though as the sender was a name that I didn't recognise. Opening it I was interested to read what the email contained, after a few minutes I reached for the cordless.

"Hello, this is Peter Clarkson, calling from Torchwood; yes I would like to speak to a Dr Martha Jones on the subject of her email!"

_A/N: Please remember to review. _


	5. When a Doctor calls

Ok Chapter five, longer than the others as it is actually going to be two separate chapters but decided to mush them together. Sorry it's taken awhile to update.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood as it is owned by the BBC**

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**Chapter Five**

**When a Doctor calls....**

**Peter**

After another sleepless night, I entered the Torchwood hub with a report on what I had found out the night before from Dr Martha Jones. We had arranged over the phone for her to drop by the hub as she was already in the area due to UNIT commitments. I had been interested to learn how she knew Jack and had a gut feeling that he would be very happy to see her again. I already had the feeling that she was a very nice person by the way she sounded over the phone but also very trustworthy.

Toshiko was at her workstation when I arrived, working through some security footage from an office building. I walked past her workstation before settling down at my desk, putting the report down on top of some old papers. I turned on the computer and spied the photo that I had put there six months before. It was the one of my mother and me at a family gathering. I had left Australia with a bad gut feeling that I had disappointed her because of the falling out between Dominic and me. Still it wasn't my fault I didn't know Adam was his son or even known he had a son

"Jack, you might want to look at...." Tosh started to yell until her eyes locked on me. For a few seconds there was an awkward silence between us before Jack walked out.

"What seems to be the problem?" Jack asked looking at Toshiko's computer screen.

"Oh sorry, I was just finishing up looking at the footage but I think I might have found something." She explained reverting her eyes away from me and back onto the computer screen.

"Great, but save it for the boardroom alright." He replied before walking off in the other direction. "Now where's Ianto? I'm desperate for a coffee."

I smiled to myself as I knew that I had slipped back to being the other quiet one of the group. The one who was ignored until they wanted something or just wanted a decent chat. The ignoring wasn't on purpose either as I didn't really make any noise to begin with. _Just like Ianto_ I thought.

"So how are you?" Tosh asked, her eyes now back on me.

"I'm good, tired but ok." I replied with a smile. "Insomnia can be a real bitch." I added looking back at my computer.

"Morning, sorry I'm late." Gwen said walking up the stairs towards her workstation.

"You haven't missed much, only just got here myself." I replied with a grin as Gwen sat down. Her workstation was near mine but she never bothered me which was strange since she always bothered everyone else.

"Morning Peter, did you have a sleepless night?" She asked when she saw the dark circles under my eyes.

"Yeah you can say that, stayed up all night doing a report for Jack." I explained holding up the stapled report. "Plus I had some help."

"Great, at least we are getting some progress; both of our corpses were in the database." Gwen enthused with a smile.

"Do you know where Jack is?" Owen asked coming up the stairs. "Because I've finally finished with our first victim's autopsy."

"Went looking for Ianto." Tosh replied looking up from her work.

"Oh I thought he might have gone to look for me, how disappointing." A voice said from beside my workstation. I looked up to see Captain John Hart standing there with a big grin on his face. "Hello handsome, I see that you don't sleep well."

"Well reports can be hard to write." I told him coldly before I felt the vibrations of my phone going off in my pocket. "Hello, where are you? Ok I'll just go and meet you." I said before hanging up and running off towards the entrance.

"Where are you going, handsome?" John asked in a whiney tone.

I stopped and turned around. "Well for your information I need to go and meet our guest so..."

"We have a guest?" Gwen asked looking up.

"Yes, sort of a long story, something came up on my search for rift keys." I explained before running down the stairs towards the reception area.

* * *

As the secret door to the reception area opened I saw a tallish woman standing at Ianto's desk. She wore a black suit and skirt and had her black hair tied up into a high bun. She also was dark skinned like most people I had seen in London.

"Um Dr Martha Jones?" I asked which made her turn her head towards me.

"Yes and you must be Peter Clarkson?" She asked right back with a smile, revealing really white teeth. I also noticed that she spoke with a London accent which I already knew from over the phone.

"Yes that's right." I replied holding out my hand. She shook it before looking back at Ianto's desk.

"Last time I was here, you had someone at the desk pretending to be the tourist operator..."

"Oh he's still here; Jack's gone off to find him. Well to be honest he doesn't know you're here." I replied with a smile. I couldn't help but notice that she was indeed a very attractive woman.

"Oh didn't have time to tell him last night?" She asked with a laugh. "Don't worry about it as he will be happy to see me anyway."

"I sort of guessed that from the way you sounded on the phone last night when describing how you knew Jack." I told her, trying not to perve too much.

She smiled and for the moment I thought she was staring deeply into my eyes. Either that or she had noticed the dark circles under them. Being a doctor I wasn't surprised if she asked me if I suffered from insomnia. I now felt a bit awkward, standing there while she looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes.

"Dr Martha Jones! I thought I heard the sound of a nightingale." Jack's voice seemed to sing and I looked up to see him standing at Ianto's secret entrance to the hub. He gave a huge grin before walking around the desk.

"Hello Jack, it's great to see you as always." Martha said before giving him a big hug. I could see that he was very happy especially with the stupid grin on his face.

"So what brings you to Cardiff?" Jack asked after they drew back from their embrace.

"Peter here invited me to come by the hub. I'm here in Wales for UNIT anyway." She explained before turning to me. I saw Jack raise an eyebrow.

"I found something last night that will change the course of our investigation." I told him as to say 'I have never met her before now.' "Martha's here because she emailed Torchwood about a lead without realising, if I might add."

Jack nodded. "Good job, now I'll just round everybody up and we'll met you in the boardroom alright."

I nodded back. "Yeah I need to get something from my desk anyway.

Jack nodded once more before walking off back towards the hub. Martha turned back towards me.

"Do you suffer insomnia by any chance?" She asked. "I'm sorry if it's a bit intrusive."

I gave a small smile "If only you don't tell Jack." I replied before pressing the button for the secret door.

* * *

There was fresh coffee on the table by the time I entered the boardroom with Martha. Everyone was sitting down including John, who had a smug look on his face. I sat down with Martha and poured out coffee for both of us. For some reason I wanted to be polite. She smiled when I gave her the cup.

"Thanks." She said putting the cup to her lips. I smiled and started to drink mine before Jack interrupted.

"As you all know, we have a special guest. Before we find out why she is here I want an update of where we at, starting with Gwen." Jack began in his professional tone. "So Gwen if you would..."

Gwen stood up and the screen on the wall changed to show two faces, a young man and the man who I had encountered at the police station. Beneath the faces were details of who they were plus other personal information. The database was very up to date when it came to private information.

"Well as you can see I put our victim through the database to see if he really was Harry Sanders and got a positive result. I also found out that he works as a personal assistant for a celebrity, Thomas Hopkins." Gwen began which made my ears prick up. Martha looked at me before speaking up.

"If I can interrupt, Thomas Hopkins is the reason why I'm here." Martha explained making the whole table look at her. "If I may ask the other man isn't Alex Fry is it?"

"Yes, the man who John here got arrested along with him last night." Gwen replied with a smile.

"Yes that's right; we were arrested because he nearly glassed me during a fight." John explained with a grin. "Died from being too aroused."

Jack gave a light chuckle before interrupting. "May I ask who Thomas Hopkins' is? Even though I do live here I'm not as aware as I like to be."

"Thomas Hopkins is the son of an English politician but has made a name for himself on various TV shows. Last year he won _Strictly Come Dancing_ and is the fastest celebrity on _Top Gear_." I replied with a faint smile.

"He's also the main suspect in UNIT's investigation into the theft of various artefacts from UNIT storage area in North London." Martha added before putting the coffee cup to her lips. "I sent an email last night asking for help with the investigation. I didn't expect to get a phone call so quickly."

"Well Peter here was supposed to be looking to see if any rift keys were sold on EBay in the last five years. Though the theft of alien artefacts from UNIT is very interesting, especially since we could have also been considered as suspects." Jack replied, not realising the connection at once. I felt a bit disappointed until Jack added. "It's even more interesting if rift keys were part of the collection."

"They were, that's why Peter rang me." Martha explained putting a hand on my shoulder. "Gwen do we have a picture of Thomas Hopkins?"

Gwen nodded and pressed a button, changing the screen to show a picture of a very handsome man with boyish features, black hair and blue eyes. He looked a lot like Jack except that his hair was more combed back. I saw a grin spread over Jack's face.

"Wow, he is very handsome." Jack observed with a grin. "So what else was stolen?"

"Well according to the official report, two rift keys, three translators and four orbs." Martha replied, very professionally. "I also like to point out that UNIT did their own investigation into Thomas Hopkins and discovered that he has a PR agent."

"Well of course, he's a celebrity and an 'untouchable' one at that." I answered with a bit of frown.

"Untouchable?" Jack asked, confusion showing on his face.

"Meaning that he will never have bad publicity because to the public eye, he is such a nice guy." I explained with a sigh. "In other words, he has a really good PR agent."

"If I can interrupt, how would you know that?" Owen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I always wanted to be a PR agent, part of my writing course focused on public relations and spin." I answered, going a bit red in the face.

"I think I may have an idea, if we find out who his agent is then maybe we could convince him to let one of us to work undercover with him as to get closer to Hopkins." Jack said looking at me. "That way we might find out what he is up to and why his personal assistant was killed."

"That's a good idea." Tosh replied, "Especially since he was in the building the night Harry died. I found a piece of footage showing them in deep conversation."

"That's fantastic Tosh." Jack said with a grin. "Now with that settled, I will try to find out who his agent is."

"Why are you doing it?" I asked, now raising an eyebrow.

"Need something to do, besides you already done enough for now." Jack explained with a small smile. "Maybe you should catch up with the others."

I looked at the others around the table and smiled.

* * *

**Jack**

I smiled as Martha Jones entered. It had been awhile since I had last seen her and again she had turned down my offer of a job. I didn't blame her if she was still happy with her job at UNIT. Seeing her again made my world seem grounded.

"I was just coming to see if you had finished." She said sitting down on the chair.

"Not yet, there are five agencies in Cardiff and so far three have come back negative." I answered with a smile. "Still I can't get over the fact Unit were robbed."

"Well it's the second time it's happened, but this time it's taken much longer to investigate." Martha explained, looking a bit annoyed. "Thank god Peter rang me when he did."

"Well we're always glad to help." I told her. "Well if it's you of course."

Martha nodded. "I thought you would say that. Still it's great to see you so I can't complain."

I laughed. "Yeah, you can't get enough of me."

"May I ask how you came to recruit Peter?" She asked changing the subject. "He seems like a very polite person."

"He helped us in an investigation six months ago." I replied, looking between the computer and her. "Though he has been away for four months due to problems in his life, but he has proved to be a valuable member to the team."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you had found out who Hopkins' agent is?" Peter's voice asked at the door.

"No, I was just telling Martha here that three agencies have come back with a negative result." I replied, waving him in.

"Sorry Jack but I must confess that I did some digging of my own." He confessed, walking in and standing next to the chair. "It seems the agency is Andrews McCain."

"And the PR agent?" I asked, a bit relieved.

Peter put his head down. "Jeremy Goodman."

"Um Martha, could you leave us alone for a bit." I said with my eyes still on Peter.

_A/N: Please remember to review._


	6. The Bones of You

Ok Chapter six. some of it was written a few months ago because I decided the write it down before the idea went away. I should point out that Jeremy is Peter's love interest in this story. If you've read Forbidden Lies and Cardiff Blues then you would know that they had a past. so this chapter reintroduces that.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood as it is owned by the BBC. The lyrics are from the song The Bones of You by the Manchester Band Elbow.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**The Bones of You**

**Jeremy **

The streets were buzzing with people on their way to work, school or just on an early morning stroll to grab a coffee from the various cafes along the city's centre. I walked down the street in my black business suit with a briefcase in one hand and a Bluetooth device in my ear. The blue sky above proved that it was going to be a beautiful day. Pity I was going to spend it indoors with two meetings and a project to start planning.

Walking past my favourite cafe I stopped when I heard a song sending a shiver down my spine. Closing my eyes I felt tears starting to form sending me back five months previously to a beautiful moment in my life I let slip away. Seeing his face again while the music took hold I felt a smile pass over my lips.

"Are you ok?" A welsh accent asked me. I looked over to see the cafe's owner standing at the doorway.

"Yes I'm fine, Matthew." I answered, going a bit red in the cheeks. "Um great song, what's it called?" I added with a smile.

"Yeah, _The Bones of You _by Elbow. It's a favourite with the customers." Matthew replied with a grin. "Well take care now."

"Wait, may I have a regular white chocolate mocha." I said walking in through the door. "I've just realised I haven't had my caffeine fix yet."

A few minutes later I left the cafe with my briefcase in one hand and the white choc mocha in the other. It really was going to be a beautiful day.

* * *

**Peter**

The hub was deathly quiet when I entered through the door. It was very early in the morning so the others weren't due to arrive until a bit later on that morning. I had decided to come in early to go through a few things before heading over to the offices of Andrews McCain. If I was going to explain the situation to Jeremy then I had to go get it absolutely perfect.

I walked over to my workstation and turned on my computer. Still the hub was silent except for Myfanwy flying happily above around the rift. I was surprised that John hadn't popped up to say hi because he was staying here at the hub. It didn't matter as I didn't want the distraction right now. I spotted the radio which Jack had put next to my workstation and decided that some music was in order. So I moved my chair towards the radio and switched it on.

_When out the doorway the tentacles stretch _

_Of a song that I know_

_And the world moves in slo mo _

_Straight to my head_

_Like the first cigarette of the day_

I looked at the radio and suddenly got the urge to turn it off right away. The song was too painful to listen to because of the memories associated with it. Instead I closed my eyes and let the song drift through my mind. Upon opening them I saw two men dancing in front of me on the other side of the desk. The sight in front of me looked so real as I felt emotions of joy and sorrow. The insomnia was the trigger of this as it made all memories come alive in real life but as hallucinations of a malfunctioning mind. I stood up and walked closer to them before stretching out my hand to touch.

"Nice suit, are you trying to impress me?" A voice asked making me look over to see Jack sitting on my desk. "As it certainly doing a good job." He added staring at me with those charming blue eyes.

I smiled, walked back around the desk and sat down. This morning I had decided to wear my black suit that I'd bought in Australia for special occasions. For some reason I wanted to look respectable when I went to talk to Jeremy.

"Yeah I wanted you to notice." I replied turning off the radio, the tone on the verge of sarcasm.

Maybe it's not me you want to impress." Jack mused standing up and turning the radio back on. "I was enjoying that." He added with a whine.

"I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now." I told him with a small smile. "It's just I don't want to be distracted."

Jack nodded, gave a look of disappointment before walking back to his office. I looked back at the computer screen and tried to shut out the song that was playing on the radio. It didn't work though as two minutes later.

_And it's you and it's May_

_And we are sleeping through the day_

_I'm five years ago _

_And three thousand miles away_

Putting my head into my hands I broke into tears.

* * *

**Jeremy**

The lobby was crowded when I finally arrived at Andrews McCain public relations. For the last four months I had worked here making a fool out of the newspapers. The number of times I had played the media were uncountable that I'd become a respectable PR in that short space of time. My parents were happy that I had finally settled down into a career. All they wanted me to do now was to find someone.

"Good morning, Mr Goodman." Sarah, our receptionist, said in a bright friendly tone. "There's someone here to see you."

I stopped and looked at her in surprise. I didn't have a meeting until eleven o'clock and already it was nine o'clock. All I didn't need right now was a new client as I already had my hands full.

"It's not a new client." Sarah assured me when she saw the look on my face. "I don't know why he's here but I asked him to wait over there." She added pointing over to the waiting lounge.

I nodded and walked over to where new clients always waited before being buzzed up. When I entered there was only one person sitting on one of the black leather couches. He was sitting back with his eyes closed. I noticed untidy brown hair which wasn't styled, a handsome boyish face and a black evening suit. A smile passed over my lips as I immediately knew who it was. He opened his eyes when he heard my footsteps.

"Oh I'm looking for Jeremy Goodman." He said quite seriously which made me realise that he was being cautious.

"Jeremy Goodman, at your service." I answered with a friendly smile.

He stood up and stuck out his hand. "Peter Clarkson, I'm with special ops."

I shook his hand. "So Mr Clarkson, what can I help you with?"

"I need to talk to you about one of your clients; they seemed to have come up in our current investigation." He explained. "If you have time of course."

"Yes as I don't have a meeting until eleven." I answered looking at my watch. "I'll take you to my office if that's alright."

"Of course. I need to talk to you in private." He replied with a nod.

We made our way over to the elevator on the other side of the lobby. We stood side by side as I pressed the button to the third floor. When the doors closed I turned to speak but was met with a hug which made me drop my briefcase and put my arms around him. I didn't want to let him go as we hugged for a few moments. I closed my eyes until I felt him move back.

"Look at you, a PR with Andrews McCain public relations." He said with an enthusiastic smile. "I love the suit."

"You're not looking bad yourself." I replied with a grin before the elevator doors opened.

"Thanks um..." Peter replied before faltering.

"How was your holiday?" I asked changing the subject. His face seemed to show misery and happiness as I said it

"Really good, been back two days." He replied stepping out of the elevator. I could see that he didn't want to talk about it.

"So what really brings you here?" I asked with a smile, hoping that the investigation had been a cover for a talk about our relationship.

"Like I said one of your clients has come up in an investigation." He explained quite professionally.

My heart just sank. So he was here on business and here I was thinking that I would finally here him say that he wanted to give our relationship a try again. That song had given me hope and I was too blind to realise that sometimes we can't get what we want. I opened the door to my office and let him in first, as to be polite.

"Wow you're office is....small." He exclaimed disappointingly.

"I also have a planning room, where I do most of my projects and meetings." I explained shutting the door behind me. "So I only need a small space for interviews with clients."

He nodded and turned around to look at me. That was when I noticed the dark circles under his eyes telling me that he still suffered from insomnia. Standing there I just wanted to hold him in my arms and kiss his tender lips. He meant everything to me even though we weren't a couple. Two years ago we had been and everything since then I hoped would bring us back to that, even if we had to start again.

"Thomas Hopkins has come up in an investigation." Peter explained snapping me back into reality.

"Really, should you be talking to him?" I asked putting down my briefcase under the hatstand.

"It's not that simple I'm afraid, it appears he's up to something." He replied, trying not to look at me too much. I could sense the awkwardness between us. "Jack has this idea that involves you."

"So what's the idea?" I asked coming a bit closer, causing the awkwardness to heighten.

"That's the thing, Jack wants to tell you himself back at the hub." He explained stepping back a bit. "But not until tonight, he still needs to work all the details out." He added, casually.

"Well yes I can do tonight." I told him with a smile. "Well at least he knows that we normal workers can be busy."

Peter smiled. "Yes, he realised that, well I must be going lots to do."

As he walked past me I got the urge to ask him that question I wanted to ask him so badly. Both my brain and heart were telling me yes which was a relief to me because they didn't always agree with each other when it came to relationships.

"Peter...."

"Yeah?" He asked stopping at the door. His blue eyes looking at me in a friendly manner which made my heart beat again. I suddenly felt frozen as I tried to get the words out but they just wouldn't come. In the end I gave up.

"It's nothing; I guess I'll see you tonight then."

Peter nodded. "Bye Jeremy."

I mentally kicked myself as I watched him shut the door behind him. All I wanted was to ask him out to dinner, so why did I freeze up?

_A/N: Please remember to review_


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